Have you ever walked into your local grocery store or taken a
Sunday stroll through a bustling market and wondered just how far
all of those items have travelled? Your bananas, likely from
Ecuador, the mango you just bought, likely from India, the rice you
want for your stir fry, yes it also was possibly made in China. It
seems as though in developed nations such as the United States,
long past are the times when we would go shopping and only find
things that have been locally grown. Well, nearby to the Faneuil
Hall Marketplace and where the Haymarket pushcart vendors gather, a
location right next to the Rose Kennedy Greenway is being proposed
as a market that will only sell items cultivated in the State of
Massachusetts!
With that said, clearly oranges and other foods that are
commonly seen in a market will not be featured, at least not all
year long for the most part. There are worries that this market
will be heavily restricted, especially in the winter months as
growing food products in Massachusetts during that time is rather
difficult to sustain. Despite this, fisherman, specialty food
makers and farmers nonetheless are on board with the idea. A main
reason for this is because there is a serious belief that locals
like to support these neighboring individuals and be proud of the
quality of products their State puts out to market. Greenhouses,
fish farms and other strategic ways can be used in the slower
seasons to still have a bounty of delicious goods for the public to
enjoy.
There is a building whose ground floor will be used for the
market at the location mentioned above. The commissioner of
agriculture, Scott Soares, is pushing this project to companies and
groups interested in developing and thereafter operating the market
as a business once completed. This completion date at the earliest
possible time is looking to be in the summer of 2012. A commission
put together by the State will field bids from the various groups
and companies and will come to a conclusion on what direction the
market will ultimately be headed in March.
Once the winning bid has been determined in March, there will be
$4 million dollars that the State is putting aside to aid in the
design and building aspects of the grounds. The building itself is
expected to go through a $8.5 million dollar development full of
improvements and renovations. Perhaps, as some restaurateurs have
noted, it would be better to have products from all of New England
in order to have a more diverse and sustainable inventory. However,
at least for the beginning and early future of this market,
Massachusetts will be the star, and we are immensely excited about
it!